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TV & Computer display screen
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you! A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen. The size would need to be big enough to serve as a comfortable YV (so, I guess, at least 19/21 inch, probably larger). The intention is to plug the TV aerial into the back and use it as the TV, or plug the computer in and use it as the display. One computer is a not-too-recent laptop (no details held), but not very old. Dunno whether it has an S-video socket. Two other computers are rather old desktops dating back some 10 years (and with a Win of the vintage of Win 98 as OS, though I'm not certain of the exact version). Almost certainly no S-video, probably only standard monitor socket on video card. I'm clueless[*] about this sort of hardware question, so I'm asking for advice/comments! I guess the real question is whether a standard monitor socket can be connnectied to a TV (for suitable choice of TV); with associated question of whether large screen size may not work well with the computer. With thanks, Ted. [*] Not completely -- I have succeeded in connecting a recentish laptop to a TV using an adaptor cable from Maplin's, with S-video (1 connector) plus audio (2 connectors plus adptor to stero plug-in for computer's line-out socket) at the computer end, and a SCART plug at the other end for the TV. But this may be irrelevant for the present question! -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 28-Oct-10 Time: 19:22:59 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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postgresql client question
by Jenny Hopkins 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

Hullo all, I've written a shell script that sends a line of insert sql to a postgresql database - or it's supposed to. If the script is run on the same host as the database, there is no problem. However, I want the sql to be sent and inserted from a client running ubuntu, to a debian server, without having to install the entire postgres package on the former. I read about postgresql-client-common being the tool for the job, duly installed it, but when it ran the sql "psql -h hostname -U username dbname < filename" it grumbled "Error: You must install at least one postgresql-client-<version> package". After googling some, I then tried sticking a default cluster in /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters on the ubuntu client: "jenny jenny 8.3 CWMain dbname" but it seems to be looking at itself, rather than the host specified on the sql line: "Error: /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters line 24: version 8.3 does not exist" The postgres version on the server is 8.3. Is there a different approach I can take - I feel I'm missing something incredibly obvious? I've always had postgresql installed on clients in the past and haven't come across this. Many thanks, Jenny

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ALUG library
by Wayne Stallwood 25 Oct '10

25 Oct '10

I am still looking to rid myself of having to store the ALUG library. The fact is that since being librarian (2003ish) we have lent exactly no books. Most of it is now horribly out of date...a long time ago I abandoned the magazines. There are a few newish titles I have added and a recent donation of "linux in a nutshell" from O'Reily. The online catalogue is offline due to the hosting it was on being broken. I have backups but it was pretty crufty anyway. More donations can be sought..but to get more out of O'Reily they were wanting us to do online and open access reviews and comments about the donated titles. I no longer have the time or the enthusiasm to do this. I see two potential futures. Somebody takes it over and tries to resurrect it by getting a book review section up on the wiki and therefore hopefully attracts more relevant donations..clears out the crud and tries to resolve the logistical issues of free book lending to remote members. or we disband it.... If this was decided then I would post a catalogue and members could claim anything they wanted to keep for themselves. After a time I would take whatever is left and donate to a charity shop or similar. Please can you respond and let me know your ideas...I don't want to go giving it away without approval from those that helped build the collection or if anyone sees a potential future for it. At the same time however it has long been a burden for me to store and I need the space in my study back...currently it consists of about 3 stackable boxes full of books. Many Thanks Wayne

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Re: [ALUG] free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 24 Oct '10

24 Oct '10

Thanks, guys. Turns out on investigation that 1and1 has a much cheaper basic package than I realized, at around 2.50 a month for the entry level one, but he seems most impressed with the daily.co.uk package. The year in advance is a pretty decent deal. Thanks. Peter

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free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

A penniless artist asked me to suggest free or cheap web hosting. Obviously he will not have a lot of traffic, and what he wants to do is put up his pictures for view, but not particularly high res. So it does not have to have a lot of space. I don't know whether own domain is important or not. Might be nice. Any suggestions? I had thought of 1and1, which seems to do a basic package for around £120 a year including domain. But if there is anything anyone would recommend thats cheaper and still decent, the pennies would help. Peter

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Netbook Dual Boot Distro-Hopping Grub/MBR Recovery Solution
by S 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi I have a non-standard Netbook HP 2133 which for now anyway I want to be able to Dual Boot XP MCE and a Linux Distro. The Mini has a VIA Chip and none of the distros have yet fully got to grips with maximising the Graphics though I read that Ubuntu is getting closer to seamlessly building in a new open-source driver from Via (don't drivers end up in the kernel though?). Bottom line is I hop distros to try to find one that has mastered the trick of all forms of video and flash so that I can finally dump the Windows. In doing so I recently installed Jolicloud in place of Linux Mint. I made a mistake in thinking I could just delete the mint & related swap partition and get "Error 15". I know I can sort it by hooking up an external DVD and doing full reinstalls of Windows and Jolicloud or whatever and maybe next time I'll do the Express install of Jolicloud which I think uses Wubi making uninstallation easy (it says) Whilst I'd like to learn to avoid these messes in the first place, I'd like to know how to fix them much more quickly too. I read on Lifehacker of Wintoflash and thought that would speed re-installations of Windows (maybe it doesn't like MCE version of XP) or maybe the cross disk installation process caught out the software (as it didn't ask me to swap disks) but it doesn't get to an installation/repair type screen, though it will start windows from a grub like menu but doesn't fix boot on restart. I've also tried super grub disk on systemrescuecd-x86-1.6.2 and can access and fully use either of the OSs on the hard disk fine. Having the usb stick in to do this each time is of course daft. GRUB/MBR and Xorg seem to be two that really I need to get to grips with but i've yet to build confidence or even familiarity in digging around much in Linux - kinda just want it to work. Lots (& lots!) of info online but are there some golden rules / infallible-simple-quick sources to go to prevent & sort my problems. Is there a master tool kit on a usb stick. I'll try and get along to one of the meetings sometime. Er, I think that's quite enough Steve >

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multi function photo printer advice please
by mick 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

My HP Photosmart (C5280) has finally irritated me enough to want to get rid of it. It currently refuses to print at all using "recycled" cartridges (always tricky with HP printers in my experience) and is now also flaky with HP branded cartridges. I am also thoroughly pissed off with the cost of Vivera ink and the fact that I have to replace the entire colour (or photo) cartridge when just one colour is depleted. So I have been researching Epson MFPs which have 6 seperate ink cartidges. My needs are classic home user: - scanning 1200/2400 - photocopying - monochrome and colour printing up to A4 - photo printing up to A4 - ideally printing direct from assorted flash memory sticks (I have both sony and SD cards). The Epson photo PX 650 looks as if it would fit the bill, but it does not appear in the linux openprinting database. There is a driver quoted for it which appears to require the installation of the lsb packages but I'm not sure how well supported this might be. Does anyone here have any experience of this printer? And if not, what other epson (or non HP printer which meets the above requirements) can people recommend? The main reason for using HP in the past is the fact that they are pretty good at supporting linux through HPLIP. Shame about the extortionate running costs. Mick (Anyone want a C5280 which /might/ be fixable) --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Android Readers
by Martin Collins 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi, has anyone any experience of some of these new Android E-Readers? I was looking for something to read pdfs, things like Full Circle Magazine (http://fullcirclemagazine.org/downloads/), Linux Format pdfs and some programming manuals I've got - all Linuxy Languages of course. However, these are mostly 7" in size and although probably ok for text, I'm a bit unsure whether they would be big enough for fixed format pdfs? Anyone used one yet. Next do a 10" one but it's a bit pricey (£180) - http://www.next.co.uk/shopping/electric/carryover/10/13 I'd feel better with that one but for that price I could buy a cheap Netbook - maybe that would be the best option. Any opinions greatly received before I splash my cash. Rgds, Martin

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Android phones and Linux, any experience?
by Chris G 20 Oct '10

20 Oct '10

Does anyone hare have an Android based phone and use it with Linux on their desktop? -- Chris Green

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scanners part the second
by Bev Nicolson 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

Hmph. Not because Adam was right but because I have been trying to change permissions for this scanner (I need root permish) and it isn't playing ball. Nautilus claims I already have it. Terminal won't let me. (I've tried chmod) The scanner itself does work, btw but only when I fire up VueScan. Help, please. TIA. Bev.

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